It is a central theme of this Program Project that inflammation causes cancer. We strive to understand how it causes cancer, particularly cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, because understanding the chemical and molecular steps underlying the mechanism of neoplastic transformation provides valuable insight into the biology of end stage cancers. Moreover, this mechanistic understanding identifies steps at which intervention in terms of therapy or prevention strategies is likely to reduce disease burden in humans. Project 2 integrates with Project 1, which identifies a population of chemical mediators that in aggregate represent the drivers of the genetic changes many researchers believe underpin the conversion of normal cells into cancer cells. These